Storage and dispensing cabinet

ABSTRACT

A cabinet for tape cassettes, comprising a plastic, box-like case having open front and rear sides, a snap-in rear wall and a snap-on cover door, and a series of cassette-storing slideways on the bottom wall of the case, with a plurality of elongated key levers pivotally mounted above the slideways and having exposed front ends along the open front of the case, and a plurality of L-shaped ejector cranks pivotally mounted adjacent the inner ends of the key levers. The key levers actuate the cranks to push selected cassettes forwardly along the slideways. Depending detent fingers on the rear ends of the key levers normally hold the cassettes in place, and upwardly projecting actuating fingers on the key levers form free-sliding connections between the levers and the cranks.

[ Feb. 18, 1975 Primary Examiner lames C. Mitchell Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Fulwider, Patton, Rieber, Lee & Utecht [57] ABSTRACT A cabinet fortape cassettes, comprising a plastic, boxlike case having open front andrear sides, a snap-in rear wall and a snap-on cover door, and a seriesof 312/15 cassette-storing slideways on the bottom wall of the A47)81/06 case, with a plurality of elongated key levers pivotally 312/1349mounted above the slideways and having exposed front ends along the openfront of the case, and a plurality of L-shaped ejector cranks pivotallymounted adjacent the inner ends of the key levers. The key le- S versactuate the cranks to push selected cassettes forwardly along theslideways. Depending detent fingers William P. McRae, 19969 Acre St.,Northridge, Calif. 91324 Oct. 18, 1973 Appl. No.: 407,751

Field of Search................................

312/319, DIG. 6; 206/387; 221/274 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTUnited States Patent McRae STORAGE AND DISPENSING CABINET [76] Inventor:

[22] Filed:

on the rear ends of the key levers normally hold the cassettes in place,and upwardly projecting actuating fingers on the key levers formfree-sliding connections between the levers and the cranks.

m M W t u u H" e u u u ma mm .m m .e ari maoma SHCBC 89413 4577 9999911111 37462 14 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED 8|975 '3, 866.990

'IIIAKVIIIA E I I STORAGE AND DISPENSING CABINET BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to storage cabinets for tape cassettes,cartridges and the like, and has particular reference to a storagecabinet of the type having means accessible from outside the'cabinet forselecting and at least partially ejecting a stored cassette.

Efforts have been made in the past to provide a practical and effectivestorage cabinet of this general type. Representative of the results ofthese efforts are the cabinets and mechanisms shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.876,865, 1,014,929, 1,327,142, 2,330,173, and 3,582,168. A relatedejecting mechanism also is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 830,772.

The fact that these patents, and others of similar types, have beenissued over a period of years ranging from 1906 to the present, ondevices for generally similar purposes, indicates that considerableattention has been given to the provision of compact, inexpensive andconvenient storage means for this type of article. As yet, however, nocompletely satisfactory solution has been found, to the knowledge of thepresent inventor, and no suitable storage unit has been found to becommercially available at the present time.

The primary deficiencies in the prior art devices are believed to be inthe areas of complexity (with resulting relatively high cost),bulkiness, or generally unattractive appearance or inconvenience inoperation. The primary objective of the present invention is to providea storage cabinet of the foregoing general character which is extremelysimple and compact in construction, can be mass-produced at a very lowcost, and at the same time, is attractive and convenient to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention resides in an improvedstorage cabinet that may be fabricated almost entirely of molded plasticparts, including a box-like outer housing or case and the parts of asimple and effective selecting and ejecting mechanism, and thenassembled relatively inexpensively into the final product. Moreover, thepresent invention makes it possible to catalog and store a relativelylarge number of cassettes compactly and securely in a relatively smallcabinet, and to select and eject any desired cassette quickly and easilywith a very simple manipulation of the ejecting mechanism.

More specifically, as illustrated in the preferred embodiment shownherein, the case has a bottom wall with means thereon defining aplurality of slideways for holding cassettes in side-by-side relationfor edgewise insertion in and removal from the cabinet through an openfront side thereof, and a key-lever actuated ejecting mechanism isprovided in the case for each slideway. This ejecting mechanism includesa pivoted key lever having an exposed front end portion to be manuallydepressed to rock the key lever from an idle position to an actuatingposition, and a rear end portion carrying a detent that is engaged witha cassette in the idle position to prevent accidental displacementthereof. An L-shaped ejector crank is pivotally mounted in the case andpositioned to be actuated by the key lever when the latter is actuated,the ejector crank having one leg which slidably engages the key lever,and another leg which serves as a push rod, swinging forwardly along theassociated slideway to push the cassette thereon at least partially outof the cabinet for easy removal.

Other structural features of the invention reside in the particularconfigurations of the case, the key lever, and the ejector crank, whichcontribute to economy of manufacture, compactness of storage, andconvenience of operation, and in the configuration and mounting of acover door for the case, which opens outwardly and downwardly in frontof the cabinet to form a tray-like extension of the case.

Preferably, a set of recesses for numbered index tabs is provided on theinner side of the cover door, and corresponding index numbers areprovided on the case, above the exposed ends of the key levers. Thesecataloging elements, plus suitable indicia on the cassettes that arestored, contribute materially to the ease of storing, selecting anddispensing cassettes, and permit easy rearrangement or reprogrammingwhenever desired.

As a result of the foregoing, the present invention provides anattractive storage cabinet which may be fabricated of plastic at verylow cost, and which stores a plurality of cassettesin a total amount ofspace that is very little greater than the actual volume of thecassettes. At the same time, any desired cassette can be readilyselected and easily removed, and subsequently returned to its properplace in the cabinet with equal ease.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of astorage and dispensing cabinet embodying the novel features of thepresent invention, shown partially loaded, with the cover door in theopen position, and with one key lever depressed;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially alongline 2-2 of FIG. 1, with alternative positions of a key lever, of anejector crank, of a cassette, and of the cover door, shown in brokenlines;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partially in cross-section,taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the key lever shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ejector crank shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line66 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION As shown in the drawings, the invention is embodiedin a storage cabinet 10 for tape cassettes 11 of a well known standardtype having a generally rectangular housing, usually composed of plasticand of a standard length, width and thickness. Such cassettes containtwo reels, only the toothed central portions 12 of which are shown, forholding a length of magnetic tape 13 and running it back and forth fromone reel to the other in a tape player or tape recorder. 4

Along one elongated edge 14 of the cassette 11, the lower edge as viewedin the drawings, are openings (not shown) providing access to the tapeduring playing and recording. This portion of the cassette is thickened,as indicated at 15 in FIGS. 1 and 2. The opposite elongated edge 17 hastwo apertures 18 (FIG. 2) that initially are closed by breakable tabs(not shown). When the tape is recorded, at least one of these tabs isbroken off, and the resulting edge opening serves to prevent theaccidental erasing of the recorded material in a tape recorder. Thesefeatures, and the abutments 19 shown in FIG. 2 on the end edges 20 ofthe cassette, are conventional in the art, and are mentioned herein onlyas background for the present invention.

There have been prior storage cabinets for tape cassettes and the like,including tape cartridges, reels in cans, phonograph records, and otherthin and flat articles. Moreover, some of these cabinets, as evidencedby the aforesaid patent, have had'mechanisms for selecting and at leastpartially ejecting the articles.

The improved storage and dispensing cabinet of the present invention hasa box-like case formed by a top wall 21, a bottom wall 22, side walls23, and a rear wall 24, the front side being open and provided with acover door 25 that is hingedly connected to the side walls adjacent thelower front corners thereof. For this purpose, brackets 27 are providedon the cover door to project into the case along the inner sides of theside walls, and hinge pins 28 (see FIG. 3) on the side walls are fittedrotatably in recesses 29 in the brackets, thereby defining a pivotalaxis for the door extending along the lower portion of the open frontside.

As shown in FIG. 2, the case is supported on laterally spaced legs 30formed on the underside of the bottom wall 22, the legs having flatlower surfaces 31 and progressively increasing in thickness toward thefront. The legs thus hold the bottom wall in an upwardly and forwardlyinclined position relative to a supporting surface 32 such as a tabletop, and assist in preventing accidental sliding of cassettes 11 out ofthe cabinet. For aesthetic purposes, the top wall 21 preferablyconverges with the bottom wall, toward the front, so as to be eitherhorizontal or inclined slightly downwardly toward the front.

Formed on the upper side of the bottom wall 22 are a plurality ofelongated and parallel, upstanding ribs 33 which extend from the frontedge of the bottom wall toward the rear wall 24. These ribs are spacedapart to receive the thickened side edge portions 15 of cassettes 11between themwith a free sliding fit, and to-suport the cassettes on edgein the cabinet.

The ribs 33 thus define a plurality of slideways for receiving andholding a plurality of cassettes 11 in the case. For increased ease ofinsertion and removal, each slideway has small ridges 34 on both sides,along the bases of the ribs 33, so that each cassette is supportedslightly above thebottom wall 22, and slides only on the ridges. A stoprib 35 (see FIG. 2) is formed on the lower portion of the rear wall 24and projects a selected distance forwardly therefrom, for positioningengagement with the cassette in each slideway, normally holding thecassette in a preselected position in spaced relation with the rear walland with the front edge 20 substantially even with the front edge of thebottom wall.

Mounted in the case above the slideways are a plurality of elongated,generally horizontal key levers 37, which are spaced above the slidewaysa distance somewhat greater than the height of the cassettes 11 to bestored. The front end portion 38 of each key lever projects under anopening in the top wall 21 adjacent the front thereof, and thus isexposed to be depressed, and the rear end portion 39 of each key leverextends over the position of the rear portion of a stored cassette, inoperative association with an L-shaped ejector crank 40 which, whenactuated, pushes the cassette outwardly along its slideway.

Herein, each key lever 37 is pivoted between its ends on an elongatedpivot rod 41 extending transversely of the case, between the two sidewalls 23, and suitably supported at its ends on the inner sides of theside walls. Each key lever has a transverse through-hole 43, surroundedat each end by an outwardly projecting boss 44 for spacing the keylevers apart when they are mounted on the rod.

With the appropriate number of key levers 37 on the rod 41, one for eachof the slideways, the ends of the rod are supported on the inner sidesof the side walls. The key levers are held in closely spaced,side-by-side relation on the rod, with one key lever overlying eachslideway and with the front end portions 38 projecting forwardly fromthe pivot rod under the opening in the top wall, and the rear endportions extending rearwardly from the pivot rod toward the ejectorcranks 40. In the normal or idle positions of the levers, the rear endportions preferably are inclined somewhat downwardly toward the rearwall, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 2.

Herein, the front end portions 38 are vertically thickened, as can beseen most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 4, and their upper sides are speciallycontoured to provide an upwardly facing, key surface 45 that is narrowerthan the lower part, so as to be spaced from the key surfaces ofadjacent key levers for ease of operation. These surfaces may beknurled, as shown in FIG. 4, for non slipping actuation. The rear endportions 39 are considerably longer than the front portions and are ofsubstantially uniform thickness from adjacent the pivot rod to the rearends.

To form the opening along the front of the top wall 21 of the case, thetop wall stops short of the front edges 47 of the side walls 23, and hasa downturned flange 48 along its front edge. This flange preferably hasa slight forward incline, and terminates just above the upper sides ofthe key levers, rearwardly from the front ends thereof, as shown in FIG.2. For assistance in selecting a particular cassette 11, the front sideof this flange is divided by ribs 49 into a series of laterally spacedzones aligned with the key levers, to receive indicia such as a seriesof index numbers, one number being aligned with each key lever.

Extending across the open front of the case is a relatively narrowcrossbar 50 which is joined at its ends to the side walls and ispositioned on the case to overlie, and partially mask, the front ends ofthe keys. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this crossbar is spaced below thelevel of the flange 48, and covers the lower portions of the front ends,having a short upwardly inclined flange 51 along its upper edgeterminating close to the ends of the keys. Upwardly inclined connectingbars 52 (see FIG. 1) connect the crossbar to the upper flange 48 alongthe side walls 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, an elongated flat plate 54 is secured to and extendsrearwardly from the lower edge of the crossbar beneath the key levers 37and rearwardly beyond the pivot rod 41. The rear edge portion 55 of thisplate is positioned to abut against the key levers and thus determinetheir normal, idle positions, shown in broken lines in FIG. 2.

The L-shaped ejector cranks 40 are pivotally mounted in the case in amanner similar to that used for the key levers. Each has a through-hole57 adjacent the juncture of its two legs 58 and 59, herein in a sleeve60 on the leg 58. The sleeve has ends 61 which are disposed laterallybeyond the sides of the legs to serve as spacing abutments.

I The ejector cranks 40 are mounted on a pivot rod 62, the opposite endsof which are fitted into two U-shaped holders 63 on the side walls 23.These holders are formed by the rear ends of two ribs 63 formed on eachside wall 23, and position the rod 62 adjacent the rear wall 24 of thecase, just beneath the top wall 21, with the upper leg 58 of each cranknormally projecting generally horizontally forwardly over the rear endportion 39 of one of the key levers 37, and with the lower leg 59 ofthecrank normally depending generally vertically along the rear wall 24, inthe gap above the positioning rib 35 thereon.

Each depending leg 59 is transversely aligned with one of the slidewaysand with the cassette 11 therein, to swing forwardly along the slidewayupon counterclockwise rocking of the ejector crank 40 from the normalposition shown in broken lines in FIG. 2 toward the position shown infull lines. These legs thus form push rods" for ejecting a cassette atleast partially from the case upon such rocking.

The operative connections between the key levers 37 and the ejectorcranks 40 are simple sliding connections, which herein are formed byupstanding fingers 64 adjacent the inner ends of the key levers and haveupper ends 65, preferably rounded, for bearing against the undersides ofthe upper legs 58 of the ejector cranks. The fingers engage the legs58'far enough from the forward ends 67 thereof to remain in engagementthrough the full range of permissible rocking, and position the ejectorcranks with the depending legs thereof parallel to the rear wall 24 whenthe key levers are at rest on the stop rib 55.

An important feature of the improved cabinet is the manner in whichcassettes 11 are positively detented against accidental displacementalong the slideways. For this purpose, each key lever 37 has a detentfinger 69 which projects downwardly from the rear end portion 39 thereoffor engagement with a standard abutment on the cassette. While such adetent may be provided in different locations for different types ofstandard cassettes or cartridges, in this instance the detent finger isa tab which projects downwardly from the key lever beyond the upturnedfinger 64, and engages an edge of the rear recess 18 in the upper edge17 of the cassette. The finger projects into this recess when a cassetteis properly positioned in a slideway and the key lever is in the normalposition, thus blocking sliding of the cassette out of the case.

In addition to closing the front side of the case, the cover door 25serves as the support for a series of index plates which identify thematerial on the cassettes and correlate the index numbers on the flange48 with the contents of the cassettes. For this purpose, the inner sideof the cover door is formed with rectangular recesses 70, in which theplates are secured, the plates having index numbers corresponding to theindex numbers on the flange 48, and sufficient space being provided foridentifying data pertaining to the cassette which is stored in thecorresponding slideway. Such information may be on adhesive labels, andmarking tabs (not shown) also may be provided for the exposed edges 20of the cassettes.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plates are conveniently displayed on thetray-like upper side of the cover door 25 when the latter is in an openposition extending forwardly from the front edge of the bottom wall. Thedoor has a forwardly offset lower portion 71 adjacent the level of thehinge pins 28, and a free lower edge 72 which is positioned to swingunder the bottom wall 22 and abut' against the latter as the free edgeportion of the door-reaches the level of the supporting surface 32.Thus, the door is maintained in the position shown in FIGS. land 2,whether or not the supporting surface extends this far forwardly.

Preferably, the free edge portion of the door has a flange 73, disposedgenerally at a right angle with the main panel of the door, and sized toswing over the key levers 37 and into closely spaced relation with thefront edge of the top wall 21 when the door is closed, as shown inbroken lines in FIG. 2. Forwardly projecting tabs 74 on the front edges47 of the side walls 23 align with the offset in the lower portion ofthe door for a finished and attractive appearance when the door isclosed. I

With the foregoing arrangement, the improved cabinet 10 may bemanufactured and assembled at very low cost with a minimum number ofparts. The case, includ ing the crossbar 50 and the plate 54, can bemolded of plastic, in one piece with open front and rear sides. Both thekey levers 37 and the ejector cranks 40 also may be relativelyinexpensive plastic moldings, and the rear wall 24 and the cover door 25can be plastic moldings adapted to be snap-fitted into place over thefront and rear sides of the case, the hinge brackets 27 beingresiliently flexible for insertion between the side walls 23 and thehinge pins 28. The snap-fitting connections between the rear wall 24 andthe top, bottom and side walls are shown in FIGS. 2 and 6.

Accordingly, the key levers 37 and the ejector cranks 40 can be strungonto the pivot rods 41 and 62 and fitted into place through the opensides of the case. It is to be noted that no special manipulation isrequired to connect the levers and the cranks, because the upper legs 58simply overlie the rear end portions 39 of the levers. When the rearwall 24 and the cover door 25 are in place, the cabinet 10 is completed.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides an improved storage and dispensing cabinet 10 for cassettes 11and the like, which cabinet is very inexpensive, compact and convenientto use during selection and dispensing of stored articles. Moreover,with.modern plastics, the cabinet can be made quite attractive, to besuitable for use on any piece of furniture.

It also will be apparent that, while a preferred embodiment has beenillustrated and described, various modifications and changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,particularly in adapting the inventive concept to the storage ofdifferent types of similar articles.

I claim:

1. A storage and dispensing cabinet for generally rectangular tapecassettes of predetermined length, width and thickness, each having arecess in a predetermined position on one longitudinal edge, saidcabinet comprising:

a one-piece, box-like plastic case having upright side walls, open frontand rear sides, a top wall having a front edge spaced rearwardly fromsaid front side, and a bottom wall that converges forwardly toward saidtop wall;

said front side being spaced from said rear side a distance greater thanthe length of the tape cassettes, and said top -wall being spaced fromsaid bottom wall a distance substantially greater than the width of thecassettes;

a rear wall snap-fitted onto said case and closing said rear side;

supporting means for said case beneath said bottom wall for holding thecase on a horizontal surface with said top wall substantially horizontaland said bottom wall inclined upwardly toward said front side;

a plurality of laterally spaced, parallel ribs on said bottom wallextending from adjacent said rear wall to adjacent said front side, anddefining between them a plurality of slideways for tape cassettes;

a stop rib projecting forwardly from said rear wall for positioningengagement with tape cassettes on said slideways, said rib being spacedfrom said front side a distance approximately the same as the length ofthe cassettes;

a plurality of elongated, one-piece, molded plastic key levers disposedin side-by-side relation in said case beneath said top wall and havingfront end portions projecting forwardly beyond said top wall, and rearend portions terminating short of said rear wall, each of said keylevers being vertically aligned with one of said slideways in agenerally horizontally idle position, and having a transverse holebetween its ends that is aligned with the holes in the other key levers;

a first elongated pivot rod extending generally horizontally throughsaid holes and secured at its ends to said side walls;

a plurality of one-piece, L-shaped molded plastic ejector cranksdisposed in side-by-side relation in said case beneath said top wall,each of said ejector cranks having an upper generally horizontal legwith a front end portion overlying the rear end portion of one of saidkey levers, a generally vertical leg extending downwardly along saidrear wall in alignment with one of said slideways to lie behind a tapecassette engaging said stop rib, and a transverse hole therethroughadjacent the juncture of said legs and aligned with the holes in theother ejector cranks;

a second elongated pivot rod extending generally horizontally throughsaid holes and secured at its ends to said side walls;

said key levers having upwardly projecting fingers adjacent their rearends in free sliding engagement with the undersides of said generallyhorizontal legs, and downwardly projecting fingers adjacent their rearends positioned for detenting engagement with the recesses in thecassettes;

a depending flange formed integrally with the front edge of said topwall and terminating in a lower edge adjacent the tops of said keylevers and spaced rearwardly from the front ends thereof, said flangehaving laterally spaced zones aligned with the key levers for displayingidentifying indicia',

an elongated crossbar extending across said front side along said frontends of said key levers and covering the lower portions thereof, saidcrossbar being integrally joined at its ends to said side walls;

an elongated flat plate disposed beneath said front end portions andintegrally joined at its ends to said side walls and along its frontedge tosaid crossbar, said plate being spaced below said front endportions and having a rear edge spaced rearwardly from said first pivotrod for engaging the undersides of said key levers to determine the idlepositions thereof, while permitting upward rocking of said rear endportions in response to depression of said front end portions;

and a cover door overlying said open front side and hingedly connectedto said case adjacent said bottom wall to swing forwardly and downwardlyinto an open position in which the cover projects forwardly from thecase, the inner side of said cover door having a plurality ofidentifying plates thereon for information correlating said key leverswith the cassettes stored in said cabinet.

2. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 1furtherincluding means on said door and said cabinet for stoppingfurther opening of the door when the latter is in a preselected openposition projecting forwardly from said case.

3. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 1 in which saidcover door is hingedly connected to said side walls by means of hingepins engaging resiliently flexible brackets projecting rearwardly fromsaid door;

4. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 1 in which saidpivot rods are supported on said side walls on holders molded integrallywith said side walls, and positioned to receive the ends of said rodswith snap fits after the ejector cranks and key levers have been strungthereon.

5. A storage and dispensing cabinet for tape cassettes and the like,comprising:

a hollow case having top, bottom, rear and side walls and an open frontside, said top wall having'an opening across the front edge portionthereof;

means on said bottom wall for holding a plurality of tape cassettes onedge, in closely spaced side-byside positions extending from front torear in said cabinet, and forming laterally spaced slideways formovement of the tape cassettes into and out of said cabinet through saidopen front side;

a plurality of elongated key levers disposed in said cabinetsubstantially beneath said top wall and in closely spaced, side-by-siderelation extending from front to rear in said cabinet, and having frontend portions positioned in the opening in said top wall, and rear endportions overlying said slideways in closely spaced, side-by-siderelation, each of said key levers being in general vertical alignmentwith one of said slideways;

means pivotally supporting each of said key levers between its ends insaid cabinet for independent rocking about a first pivotal axisextending between said side walls;

a stop for each of said key levers normally holding the same in apreselected idle position and permitting said front portion to bedepressed to raise said rear portion to an actuating position;

a plurality of L-shaped, one-piece ejector cranks disposed in saidcabinet beneath said'top wall and eachhaving an upper leg extending in afront-torear direction and overlying the rear end portion of anassociated key lever, and a lower leg extending downwardly along saidrear wall, each of said lower legs being laterally aligned with one ofsaid slideways;

and means pivotally supporting each of said ejector cranks in saidcabinet adjacent the juncture of said upper and lower legs, for rockingmovement about a second pivotal axis generally parallel to said firstaxis;

said upper leg of each of said ejector cranks abutting slidably againstsaid rear end portion of the associated key lever to be raised upondepression of the front end portion of the key lever, thereby to swingsaid lower leg of the ejector crank forward along the aligned slidewayto push a tape cassette thereon toward said open front side.

6. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim in which each ofsaid key levers has a depending finger adjacent the rear end thereof,for detenting engagement with a standard abutment on a cassette.

7. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 5 furtherincluding a cover door hingedly mounted on said case for swingingbetween a closed position and an open position about an axis along thefront edge of said bottom wall, and means on said cover door and saidcase for stopping opening of said cover when the latter is in anoutwardly extending position with the free edge thereof substantiallylevel with said supporting means.

8. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 7 in which saidcover door has a forwardly offset lower portion terminating in a loweredge, and is mounted on said case by means of hinge pins rotatablyengaging brackets projecting rearwardly from said lower portion abovesaid lower edge, said hinge pins fitting rotatably in recesses in theinner sides of said brackets, and said lower edge being swingable intoengagement with the underside of said bottom wall to stop furtheropening of said cover door when the latter is in a downwardly andoutwardly inclined open position.

9. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 5 in which saidtop wall has a front edge spaced rearwardly from said front side, asdefined between the front edges of said side walls, and furtherincluding an elongated crossbar extending across the upper portion ofsaid front side, beneath the level of said top wall and cooperatingtherewith to define an elongated slot across the front of said top wall,said key levers having front ends partially covered by said crossbarwhile the upper sides of the front end portions are exposed in saidslot.

10. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 9 furtherincluding a flat flange depending from said front edge of said top walland spaced rearwardly from the front ends of said key levers, and aplurality of identification zones on the front side of said flange andeach aligned with one of said key levers, for displaying indicia forcorrelating said key levers with cassettes in said slideways.

11. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 9 furtherincluding an elongated plate disposed below said front end portions,said crossbar being secured at its ends to said side walls and along itsfront edge to said bar and having a free rear edge spaced rearwardlyfrom said first axis, said stops for said key levers the rear edgeportion of said elongated plate beneath said key levers.

12. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 5 in which saidkey levers have upwardly projecting fingers adjacent their rear endsslidably engaging the underside of the upper legs of said ejectorcranks.

13. In a storage and dispensing cabinet for generally rectangular tapecassettes of predetermined length, width and thickness and havingabutments in standard position'on corresponding edges, the combinationof:

a case having an open front side;

means in said case defining at least one slideway for holding a tapecassette on edge in a predetermined position and for movement I alongsaid slideway through said open side;

at least one key lever pivotally mounted in said case to lie along theedge of the cassette opposite the slideway, and having a front endportion accessible from outside the case for manual depression, and arear end portion movable away fromthe slideway upon such depression,said key lever having detent means on'said rear end position projectingtoward said slideway and positioned for retaining engagement with theabutment in a cassette in said predetermined position, and said detentmeans being disengageable upon movement of said rear end portion awayfrom said slideway;

and an L-shaped ejector crank pivotally mounted in said case adjacentsaid rear end portion and having one leg overlying said rear end portionto be moved away from said slideway by said rear end portion, and havinga second leg extending along the rear side of said case to be movedforwardly along the slideway upon movement of said one leg away from theslideway, thereby to shift a cassette forwardly through said open end.

14. In a storage and dispensing cabinet for tape cassettes and the like,the combination of:

a case having a bottom wall and an open front side;

means in said case defining at least one slideway on said bottom wallfor holding a tape cassette on edge in a predetermined position and formovement along said slideway through said open side;

at least one key lever pivotally mounted in said case to overlie theedge of the cassette opposite the slideway, and having a front endportion over said open side and accessible from outside the case formanual depression and a rear end portion movable away from the slidewayupon such depression; and at least one L-shaped, one-piece ejector crankpivotally mounted in said case adjacent said rear end portion and havinga first leg overlying said rear end portion to be moved away from theslideway by said rear end portion, said crank also having a second legextending along the rear side of said case to be moved forwardly alongthe slideway, said first leg having free sliding engagement with saidrear end portion during movement thereof.

1. A storage and dispensing cabinet for generally rectangular tapecassettes of predetermined length, width and thickness, each having arecess in a predetermined position on one longitudinal edge, saidcabinet comprising: a one-piece, box-like plastic case having uprightside walls, open front and rear sides, a top wall having a front edgespaced rearwardly from said front side, and a bottom wall that convergesforwardly toward said top wall; said front side being spaced from saidrear side a distance greater than the length of the tape cassettes, andsaid top wall being spaced from said bottom wall a distancesubstantially greater than the width of the cassettes; a rear wallsnap-fitted onto said case and closing said rear side; supporting meansfor said case beneath said bottom wall for holding the case on ahorizontal surface with said top wall substantially horizontal and saidbottom wall inclined upwardly toward said front side; a plurality oflaterally spaced, parallel ribs on said bottom wall extending fromadjacent said rear wall to adjacent said front side, and definingbetween them a plurality of slideways for tape cassettes; a stop ribprojecting forwardly from said rear wall for positioning engagement withtape cassettes on said slideways, said rib being spaced from said frontside a distance approximately the same as the length of the cassettes; aplurality of elongated, one-piece, molded plastic key levers disposed inside-by-side relation in said case beneath said top wall and havingfront end portions projecting forwardly beyond said top wall, and rearend portions terminating short of said rear wall, each of said keylevers being vertically aligned with one of said slideways in agenerally horizontally idle position, and having a transverse holebetween its ends that is aligned with the holes in the other key levers;a first elongated pivot rod extending generally horizontally throughsaid holes and secured at its ends to said side walls; a plurality ofone-piece, L-shaped molded plastic ejector cranks disposed inside-by-side relation in said case beneath said top wall, each of saidejector cranks having an upper generally horizontal leg with a front endportion overlying the rear end portion of one of said key levers, agenerally vertical leg extending downwardly along said rear wall inalignment with one of said slideways to lie behind a tape cassetteengaging said stop rib, and a transverse hole therethrough adjacent thejuncture of said legs and aligned with the holes in the other ejectOrcranks; a second elongated pivot rod extending generally horizontallythrough said holes and secured at its ends to said side walls; said keylevers having upwardly projecting fingers adjacent their rear ends infree sliding engagement with the undersides of said generally horizontallegs, and downwardly projecting fingers adjacent their rear endspositioned for detenting engagement with the recesses in the cassettes;a depending flange formed integrally with the front edge of said topwall and terminating in a lower edge adjacent the tops of said keylevers and spaced rearwardly from the front ends thereof, said flangehaving laterally spaced zones aligned with the key levers for displayingidentifying indicia; an elongated crossbar extending across said frontside along said front ends of said key levers and covering the lowerportions thereof, said crossbar being integrally joined at its ends tosaid side walls; an elongated flat plate disposed beneath said front endportions and integrally joined at its ends to said side walls and alongits front edge to said crossbar, said plate being spaced below saidfront end portions and having a rear edge spaced rearwardly from saidfirst pivot rod for engaging the undersides of said key levers todetermine the idle positions thereof, while permitting upward rocking ofsaid rear end portions in response to depression of said front endportions; and a cover door overlying said open front side and hingedlyconnected to said case adjacent said bottom wall to swing forwardly anddownwardly into an open position in which the cover projects forwardlyfrom the case, the inner side of said cover door having a plurality ofidentifying plates thereon for information correlating said key leverswith the cassettes stored in said cabinet.
 2. A storage and dispensingcabinet as defined in claim 1 further including means on said door andsaid cabinet for stopping further opening of the door when the latter isin a preselected open position projecting forwardly from said case.
 3. Astorage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 1 in which said coverdoor is hingedly connected to said side walls by means of hinge pinsengaging resiliently flexible brackets projecting rearwardly from saiddoor.
 4. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 1 in whichsaid pivot rods are supported on said side walls on holders moldedintegrally with said side walls, and positioned to receive the ends ofsaid rods with snap fits after the ejector cranks and key levers havebeen strung thereon.
 5. A storage and dispensing cabinet for tapecassettes and the like, comprising: a hollow case having top, bottom,rear and side walls and an open front side, said top wall having anopening across the front edge portion thereof; means on said bottom wallfor holding a plurality of tape cassettes on edge, in closely spacedside-by-side positions extending from front to rear in said cabinet, andforming laterally spaced slideways for movement of the tape cassettesinto and out of said cabinet through said open front side; a pluralityof elongated key levers disposed in said cabinet substantially beneathsaid top wall and in closely spaced, side-by-side relation extendingfrom front to rear in said cabinet, and having front end portionspositioned in the opening in said top wall, and rear end portionsoverlying said slideways in closely spaced, side-by-side relation, eachof said key levers being in general vertical alignment with one of saidslideways; means pivotally supporting each of said key levers betweenits ends in said cabinet for independent rocking about a first pivotalaxis extending between said side walls; a stop for each of said keylevers normally holding the same in a preselected idle position andpermitting said front portion to be depressed to raise said rear portionto an actuating position; a plurality of L-shaped, one-piece ejectorcranks disposed in said cabinet beneath said top wall and each having anupper leg extending in a front-to-rear direction and overlying the rearend portion of an associated key lever, and a lower leg extendingdownwardly along said rear wall, each of said lower legs being laterallyaligned with one of said slideways; and means pivotally supporting eachof said ejector cranks in said cabinet adjacent the juncture of saidupper and lower legs, for rocking movement about a second pivotal axisgenerally parallel to said first axis; said upper leg of each of saidejector cranks abutting slidably against said rear end portion of theassociated key lever to be raised upon depression of the front endportion of the key lever, thereby to swing said lower leg of the ejectorcrank forward along the aligned slideway to push a tape cassette thereontoward said open front side.
 6. A storage and dispensing cabinet asdefined in claim 5 in which each of said key levers has a dependingfinger adjacent the rear end thereof, for detenting engagement with astandard abutment on a cassette.
 7. A storage and dispensing cabinet asdefined in claim 5 further including a cover door hingedly mounted onsaid case for swinging between a closed position and an open positionabout an axis along the front edge of said bottom wall, and means onsaid cover door and said case for stopping opening of said cover whenthe latter is in an outwardly extending position with the free edgethereof substantially level with said supporting means.
 8. A storage anddispensing cabinet as defined in claim 7 in which said cover door has aforwardly offset lower portion terminating in a lower edge, and ismounted on said case by means of hinge pins rotatably engaging bracketsprojecting rearwardly from said lower portion above said lower edge,said hinge pins fitting rotatably in recesses in the inner sides of saidbrackets, and said lower edge being swingable into engagement with theunderside of said bottom wall to stop further opening of said cover doorwhen the latter is in a downwardly and outwardly inclined open position.9. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 5 in which saidtop wall has a front edge spaced rearwardly from said front side, asdefined between the front edges of said side walls, and furtherincluding an elongated crossbar extending across the upper portion ofsaid front side, beneath the level of said top wall and cooperatingtherewith to define an elongated slot across the front of said top wall,said key levers having front ends partially covered by said crossbarwhile the upper sides of the front end portions are exposed in saidslot.
 10. A storage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 9 furtherincluding a flat flange depending from said front edge of said top walland spaced rearwardly from the front ends of said key levers, and aplurality of identification zones on the front side of said flange andeach aligned with one of said key levers, for displaying indicia forcorrelating said key levers with cassettes in said slideways.
 11. Astorage and dispensing cabinet as defined in claim 9 further includingan elongated plate disposed below said front end portions, said crossbarbeing secured at its ends to said side walls and along its front edge tosaid bar and having a free rear edge spaced rearwardly from said firstaxis, said stops for said key levers the rear edge portion of saidelongated plate beneath said key levers.
 12. A storage and dispensingcabinet as defined in claim 5 in which said key levers have upwardlyprojecting fingers adjacent their rear ends slidably engaging theunderside of the upper legs of said ejector cranks.
 13. In a storage anddispensing cabinet for generally rectangular tape cassettes ofpredetermined length, width and thickness and having abutments instandard position on corresponding edges, the combination of: a casehaving an open front side; means in said case defining at least oneslideway for holding a tape cassEtte on edge in a predetermined positionand for movement along said slideway through said open side; at leastone key lever pivotally mounted in said case to lie along the edge ofthe cassette opposite the slideway, and having a front end portionaccessible from outside the case for manual depression, and a rear endportion movable away from the slideway upon such depression, said keylever having detent means on said rear end position projecting towardsaid slideway and positioned for retaining engagement with the abutmentin a cassette in said predetermined position, and said detent meansbeing disengageable upon movement of said rear end portion away fromsaid slideway; and an L-shaped ejector crank pivotally mounted in saidcase adjacent said rear end portion and having one leg overlying saidrear end portion to be moved away from said slideway by said rear endportion, and having a second leg extending along the rear side of saidcase to be moved forwardly along the slideway upon movement of said oneleg away from the slideway, thereby to shift a cassette forwardlythrough said open end.
 14. In a storage and dispensing cabinet for tapecassettes and the like, the combination of: a case having a bottom walland an open front side; means in said case defining at least oneslideway on said bottom wall for holding a tape cassette on edge in apredetermined position and for movement along said slideway through saidopen side; at least one key lever pivotally mounted in said case tooverlie the edge of the cassette opposite the slideway, and having afront end portion over said open side and accessible from outside thecase for manual depression and a rear end portion movable away from theslideway upon such depression; and at least one L-shaped, one-pieceejector crank pivotally mounted in said case adjacent said rear endportion and having a first leg overlying said rear end portion to bemoved away from the slideway by said rear end portion, said crank alsohaving a second leg extending along the rear side of said case to bemoved forwardly along the slideway, said first leg having free slidingengagement with said rear end portion during movement thereof.